Special Event Alert: Twinkle Light Parade & Holiday Arts Festival

Monday, November 22, 2010 5:00 PM

Holiday Greetings:

On Saturday, December 4th, 2010 the “Twinkle Light Parade and Holiday Arts Festival” will take place in downtown Albuquerque, showcasing a variety of parade entries all decked out in festive holiday lighting. The parade will take place at night, stepping off at approximately 5:45 pm. The parade will begin at Harry E. Kinney Civic Plaza, 3rd St. and Tijeras. It will head south on 3rd St. to Central Ave., and west on Central Ave to San Pasquale, where it will officially end. The disbanding parade entries will travel south on San Pasquale, turn right at Laguna, then left onto Kit Carson. From Kit Carson entries must turn right at Acalde and then right again on Tingley Dr. At which point they can go east or west on Central Ave.

HOLIDAY ARTS FESTIVAL: New this year is the Holiday Arts Festival, from noon - 6:00 pm on Harry E. Kinney Civic Plaza. There will be handmade arts and crafts to purchase, pictures with Santa, and Holiday entertainment on the stage. At 5:30 pm, there will be an “official lighting” of Civic Plaza. The parade will begin immediately after the ceremony. The application to participate in the Holiday Arts Festival is available online at www.cabq.gov/crs.

BUSINESS PARTICIPATION: We encourage all businesses, located along the parade route, to take advantage of the high volume of traffic through special promotions, sales and decorations. Also, we hope you will consider entering the parade. This year, we will be awarding cash prizes for Best in Show and Best in Theme. This year’s theme is “Light-styles of the Southwest.” The application is available by logging on to www.cabq.gov/crs. The deadline for submitting the application is November 24th, 2010.

EVENT PARKING: Event Parking will be available for $6 in the following City Parking Lots on the day of the event: Civic Plaza, Convention Center, 5th St. and Copper Ave., 2nd St. and Gold Ave., and Acropolis (3rd St. and Copper Ave.). Any vehicles left in the parade route after 3:00 pm will be towed.

ABQRIDE SERVICE INTERUPTION: (Route 66 and 766 Rapid) Westbound: beginning at 3:00 pm north to 2nd St., west to Lomas Blvd, west to Central Ave., to regular route. Eastbound: east to Central Ave., east to Lomas Blvd, south to 2nd St., east to Gold Ave., to regular route.

VIEWING PARADE: Spectators may view the parade along Central Ave. between 3rd St. and San Pasquale from both sides of Central Ave, or on 3rd Street, from Civic Plaza to Central Ave. There will be no parade viewing on San Pasquale.

TRAFFIC CONTROL PLAN: Parade staging will occur along 3rd St. north of Central Ave., but will be discontinuous through the intersections of Marquette Ave., Tijeras Ave., and Copper Ave. These three streets will remain open to traffic until just before the parade actually starts. 2nd St. by way of Copper Ave. and the alley north of Central Ave. will remain open for access to the Acropolis (3rd St. & Copper Ave.) Parking structure. From 5:15 pm until around 7:00 pm, traffic on Marquette Ave., Tijeras Ave., and Copper Ave. will be closed by APD while the parade crosses. ALL east-west streets intersecting 3rd St. between Central Ave. and Lomas Blvd. (Except Marquette Ave., Tijeras Ave., and Copper Ave.) will be TOTALLY CLOSED from 1:00 pm until approximately 6:30 pm. Additional streets used for staging include: 4th St. between Lomas Blvd. and Marquette Ave.; 5th St. between Lomas Blvd. and Marquette Ave.; Fruit St. between 6th St. and 5th St.; and Roma Ave. between 3rd St. and 6th St.

Starting at approximately 3:00 pm, the parade barricading will occupy both directions of Central Ave. between 2nd St. and San Pasquale Dr. Westbound Lomas Blvd. will remain fully open throughout the event all the way to Central Ave. Eastbound Central Ave. will be TOTALLY CLOSED between San Pasquale. and 2nd St. All north – south streets intersecting the parade route will be totally closed. Any vehicles left in the parade route once barricading begins will be towed.

All businesses, except those along Central Ave. and 3rd St., will have direct access. Westbound Central Ave. traffic will be detoured to Lomas Blvd. at 2nd St. starting at 3:00 pm, when the parade route barricading begins. Up until the parade starts, direct access to the Civic Plaza parking structure, the Convention Center parking structure, the Convention Center, the Acropolis Parking Structure, the Hyatt Hotel, and the Doubletree Hotel will all be unaffected. 2nd St. will remain open at ALL times for north-south continuity through the downtown area. Lomas Blvd., Lead Ave., and Coal Ave. will remain open at all times for east and west continuous access to the downtown area. All westbound through traffic into downtown will be directed to Lomas Blvd. at 2nd St. where traffic will continue to flow across the Rio Grande to the west-side throughout the event period from 3:00 pm until 10:00 pm. All eastbound through traffic on Central Ave. will be diverted to Lomas Blvd. at San Pasquale. Event disbanding will occur along Kit Carson Park on Kit Carson Ave.

PROBLEM AREAS: There will be limited access to both the Barelas neighborhood area and the Country Club area from the north and west after 3:00 pm. To access the Albuquerque Little Theater, the Albuquerque Country Club and residences on San Pasquale, you will need to come in from the south.

THANK YOU! We are putting our best effort forward in trying to get the word out to all of those who may be impacted by this event, including businesses and neighborhoods in the downtown area, as well as city transportation services. We understand that some of you may have customers and/or services that may be interrupted. By giving you advance notice, we hope that you have adequate time to make necessary accommodations and to communicate pertinent information to your customers and/or make any other arrangements necessary.